The Buffalo Bills are facing criticism for the condition of their field, with some experts claiming the team put Josh Allen at unnecessary risk by playing him in what they call substandard conditions.
The Athletic’s Tim Graham revealed this week that the team recently had to tear out the grass they installed in October 2025 after the roots failed to take hold and large chunks of sod fell out during the team’s two preseason games. Some of the groundskeeping experts Graham interviewed questioned how the team could allow the 2024 league MVP play in such conditions.
Bills Blasted for Putting Josh Allen on Substandard Field
The Bills under head coach Sean McDermott played Allen sparingly in the preseason, and new head coach Joe Brady had him play only a couple of series in the preseason opener before sending him to the bench for the remainder of the two and a half games.
But Allen took a pair of big hits in the short time he played, taking one sack with another that was called back due to a defensive penalty. Though he left early, Allen was taken down to the grass twice.
For Tony Dick, a sports management professor at Baldwin Wallace University and former Cleveland Browns assistant head groundskeeper, it was too much risk for Allen.
“Yes, natural turf is safer in a perfect setting,” Dick told Graham. “But if you have the situation like you have in Buffalo — and I went back and watched the film — you cannot tell me that field was safer than the artificial turf they just left.
“I’m never putting Josh Allen on a field in that condition.”
Bills Make Big Decision on Playing Surface
The Bills announced this week that they were resodding the entire field, which another expert told Graham is not unusual for teams with grass fields.
“It’s a lot more common to replace sod fields than people think,” said Matteo Bartolotta, owner of the upstate New York company M&K Turf, who has worked with the Bills’ director of grounds to prepare St. John Fisher University for training camp. “We do have the three-game stretch coming. If they wait, with that NFL test of playability, they might not have passed it if the conditions got worse. It’s not cheap, but I think it was the right choice.”
The Bills have a little under two weeks until their home opener on Thursday Night Football against the Detroit Lions. An unnamed agronomist who spoke to Graham shared concern for the next week, when they host the Los Angeles Chargers.
“They will have a difficult time,” the agronomist said. “There’s so much going wrong, and there’s so little time. If that field makes it through the second game, I’ll be shocked.”
Bills Under Fire for Putting Josh Allen at Unnecessary Risk